Matt Dickerson switches verbal to the Bruins

For the second time in less than 12 months, Notre Dame has lost a commitment from California to Coach Jim Mora Jr. and UCLA.

On Thursday, 6-foot-5, 260-pound defensive end Matt Dickerson decommitted from the Fighting Irish and verballed to the Bruins, following in the footsteps of defensive tackle Eddie Vanderdoes.

In a highly-publicized incident, Vanderdoes signed his National Letter of Intent to go to Notre Dame last February, but later attempted and succeeded in getting out of the signing, opting instead to go to UCLA.

Vanderdoes was recently named a Freshman All-American.

Dickerson is ranked as a four-star prospect on a five-star scale by Rivals.com, a national Internet recruiting service. He is the No. 15-ranked defensive end in the country and with defensive tackle commit Jay Hayes was considered to be one of the gems of the Notre Dame recruiting class along the defensive front due to his versatility.

Now, the Fighting Irish are left to look elsewhere less than a month from National Signing Day.

Dickerson originally committed to Notre Dame in August over offers from UCLA, Nebraska, Oregon and USC, among others. But the San Mateo, Calif. native switched his verbal to the Bruins on Thursday.

The Fighting Irish still have four defensive ends committed for this recruiting cycle, but none appear to be as ready to contribute as Dickerson was. Notre Dame's defensive line will be in a state of flux heading into next season with the departures of DT Louis Nix and DE Stephon Tuitt to the NFL.

Notre Dame still has 22 verbal commits in the Class of 2014 with a No. 9 overall team ranking according to Rivals.com.